Refrigerating apparatus



April 4, 1939. B R NDEL 2,152,663

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 27, 1936 INVENTOR Bo FOLKE RANDEL.

ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 3700. G. 157) This invention relates to refrigerating means and methods andis an improvement upon the invention disclosed in applicant's copendingapplication Serial No. 477,038.

According to the present invention, an atomized liquid at high velocityis employed as a motive medium to exhaust an evaporating space andtransfer a refrigerant vapor from a low pressure space to a highpressure space. The capacity of the apparatus will by this arrangementbe considerably increased, due to more thoroughly commingling of thevapor and liquid. Thepreferred method is to employ the same medium inliquid and vapor state both as a motive medium and as a refrigerant, butdifferent mediums may be used if so desired. In the event two differentmediums are employed they should be of different specific gravitiessothat they will separate after liquefaction into separate bodies.

With these and other objects in view, as well as other advantages thatmay be incident to the use'of the improvements, the invention consistsin the parts and combinations thereof hereinafter set forth and claimed,and with the understanding that the several necessary elementsconstituting the same may be varied in proportion and arrangementwithout departing from the nature and scope of the invention, as definedin the appended claim.

In order to make the invention more clearly understood, there are shownin the accompanying drawing, means for carrying the invention intopractical use, withoutlimiting the improvements in their usefulapplication to the particular construction, which, for the purpose ofexplanation, have been made the subject of illustration.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view partly in side elevation and partly invertical section of a refrigerating apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on a larger scale through theatomizer shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a similar view of a modified form of i5 atomizer.

Referring to the drawing and particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, arefrigerating apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention isshown as comprising a high pressure receiver I0 $0 for containing asupply of liquid employed both as a motive medium and as a refrigerantand having a cooling coil ll suitably mounted therein. A conduit l2extends through the wall of the receiver l0 adjacent to the bottomthereof and i6 communicates at its outer end with a suitable pump l3driven by an electric motor M. The motive medium is drawn from thereceiver III by the pump l3 and forced upwardly at relatively highpressure through a pipe l5 and thence back into the receiver l0 throughan atomizer, lndi- 5 cated generally at I6, located on the upper end ofthe receiver.

The atomizer I6 preferably comprises an elbow fitting I! whichcommunicates with the pipe l5 and which is secured to the upper end of acast- 10 ing l8 having a Venturi tube portion I9 and an upper chamber 20communicating therewith. An annular fiange 2| is disposed within thechamber 20 (Fig. 2) and supports a disk 22 having a plurality of verysmall openings 23 formed therein 5 and which is maintained againstdisplacement by a retainer ring 24. The apparatus also includes arefrigerating coil 25 which communicates at its lower end with thechamber 20 and at its upper end through a reduction valve 26 with a pipe21 20 communicating with the high pressure receiver I0 adjacent to itslower end.

In operation, the liquid motive medium is drawn from the receiver ill bythe pump I4 and forced upwardly through the pipe l5 and thence 25 intothe upper portion of the atomizer It, in this case the elbow I1. Theliquid under pressure then passes through the apertures 23 in the disk22 and travels toward the Venturi portion of the atomizer at highvelocity in the form of a large number of jets each consisting of aseries of very minute droplets closely resembling vapor. These jets ofliquid draw the refrigerant from the lower end of the coil 25,commingles with it and forces the same through the restricted portion itof the 35 Venturi tube and back into the pressure tank III. Thismovement of the liquid motive medium de-- velops a negative pressurewithin the chamber 20 such as will draw liquid employed as therefrigerant from the receiver l0, through the pipe 21 40 valve 26 andcooling coil 25 into the chamber 20 where it is entrained by the liquidmotive medium in jet or atomized form and is carried thereby back intothe receiver l0. During the passage of the liquid motive medium throughthe orifices 23 and the Venturi tube it is subjected to both frictionand compression which action will cause a. certain degree of heat to begenerated which will be extracted through contact with the cooling coilll, causing the condensation of the refrigerant entrained by theatomized liquid motive medium. .The action above described is comparableto that of a steam jet compressor, but without the necessity ofextraneous heat.

If the liquid motive medium is of greater specific gravity than therefrigerant, it will collect in the lower portion of the receiver Illwhile the condensed refrigerant will collect in a superimposed layer orstratum.

In this case the expansion valve 26 may be dispensed with and the pipe21 connected with the receiver In above the level of the liquid motivemedium. I I

In Fig. 3 anatomizer of slightly different type is shown. In thisparticular construction the refrigerant is drawn into the atomizerthrough a pipe 28 which communicates with the cooling coil 25 and whichpasses through a packing gland 29 formed on the upper portion of theelbow l1 and centrally through the perforated disk 22.

While the primary object is to devise a refrigerating means and method,the specific atomizer and pump action thereof may also be employed inother applications, as for instance, as vacuum pumps in heatinginstallations or as a. pump when it is desired to move a vapor or a gasfrom a lower to a higher pressure or from one space to another.

Other modifications and changes in the proportions and arrangement ofthe parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departing fromthe nature and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

The invention described herein may be man factured and used by or forthe Government the United States of America for government purposeswithout the payment of any royalti thereon or therefor.

I claim:

In a refrigerating apparatus a receiver for on taining a supply ofliquid refrigerant; a Venti tube communicating with said receiver above1 liquid level of the refrigerant therein; an atoi izer injectorcommunicating with said Vent tube; a refrigerating coil communicating atend with said receiver below the liquid level said refrigerant and atits other end with s: Venturi tube; and a pump for withdrawing a p tionof said refrigerant from said receiver a delivering'it under pressure tosaid atomiz injector and thence in a fine spray to said Vent tube andinto the upper portion of said receii thus reducing the pressure in saidrefrigerat coil so as to cause another portion of said ref] erant tobe'withdrawn from said receiver, 1 culated through said coil, entrainedand cc mingled with said spray and delivered back said receiver in anatomized condition.

BO FOLKE RANDE]

